Comments on: Bipolar Disorder, Brain Chemistry, and Yoga

By: Cam Wilson

Cam Wilson — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:34:22 +0000

Hi, I live in Sydney Aust and have been battling the BP-depression miseries for 25 years or so - now aged 43.
I’ve just returned from a week in Ubud, Bali, where I did 8 yoga classes in 7 days.
I had done a few classes (maybe 10 in the last 2 years), but decided to have a proper go at it as I suspected it would be good for body/mind/soul. It was a brilliant experience I gotta say, and I have no doubt that yoga does impact significantly on depression. I’ve never suffered manic episodes, just subtle mood spikes that are pleasant enough but only last a couple hours; it is the depression that I need to tangle with.
I’d really like to hear if anyone has info on some of the specific poses that target mood; a couple of teachers in Ubud mentioned that inverted postures - shoulder stands, headstands and such - are great for combating depression, which seems to make sense as it juices up the bloodflow to the brain. I’m thinking the increased blood & oxygen might activate the neural transmitters and perhaps spark other kinds of activity too (??)
Love to hear other thoughts, and any info/research etc on the best anti-depression postures.

Thanks,
Cam.

By: David Morgan

David Morgan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:14:56 +0000

@ Tina: Thank you and welcome!

@ Kay: Stay tuned.

By: Tina

Tina — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:51:36 +0000

Hi there

Hey…. keep this site rolling dear… I was diagnosed with “potentially” having bipolar years ago..
I’ve managed to balance out my emotions to some extent through therapy, determination - and an insight to the fact that it is basically all about balance…

I KNOW that yoga is a brilliant therapy for bringing balance into people’s lives… and I came across your blog simply because I firmly believe that YOGA is a great therapy for sufferers of bipolar and I wanted to know if there was anyone out there who agreed…. or who I could join and help….

You’ve hit on something here… please do keep it up - and if I can be of any help at all - then don’t hesitate to get in touch…..

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:14:35 +0000

I am interested in knowing more about how yoga helps bipolar people. I have two very close family members that I suspect have this disorder. They do take medication to control depression and anxiety but it does not quell negative feelings. What yogic exercises exactly does one do? What proven or reliable and harmless natural ways are there? Please let me know if any one has more information.

Thanks.
Kay

By: admin

admin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:10:27 +0000

Thanks for your comments, even negative ones. I’ll get back on this project now that there appears to be interest.

By the way, please don’t bother commenting if you have little more to offer than a thinly veiled promotion, I will delete your comment.

Otherwise, keep it coming — your participation in this project is greatly appreciated!

By: Yoga Videos

Yoga Videos — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:23:19 +0000

Not crap. There is a lot of bio-chemistry going on, as Lisa stated. Also the continued dedication to it does mean you have to stop and recognize something other than your own mania and depression. This is very interesting site.

By: Nash

Nash — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:25:31 +0000

what a lot of crap!

By: Lisa Winett

Lisa Winett — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:11:11 +0000

Hey, bi-polar/hyper-mania runs through my family, and I have the hyper-manic aspect of the disease. I have not chosen medication as I’m more concerned with the physical side effects I might encounter. I have always had great physical health and I didn’t want to put that in jeopardy. I do use yoga to give me clarification on my emotions and how to keep a balanced life. Anodea Judith wrote a great book on chakra developement that I use daily to keep myself in balance and to be aware of the behaviors and signs of excess and deficiency (the two key symptoms of bi-polar better known as Mania and Depression)

I also believe that the subtleties of our bio-chemestry can be altered by the people we encounter everyday and their personal level of attunment with the chakra system. Understanding is a major problem for people with bi-polar. Not many people understand what it feels like or how we feel. It is hard for people to understand our emotional processes, if we get angry, upset, fall in love, or get sad, how do we get out of those feelings without hurting ourselves or others? Our emotions can get intense, yet we still need a healthy harmless process to go through. Yoga offers a real solution. It is a practice which means you have to keep practicing, it is life long which gives us a committment that may not be there for us in any other form, and it gives us a gentle pace knowing that life moves in it’s own time, organic, biorythmically, not set to anyone’s timeclock or deadline.

I hope this helps.

By: Thom

Thom — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:51:11 +0000

Thanks for this site. I hope you continue to post and share your experience, strength, and hope.

By: Jules Cooper

Jules Cooper — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:15:30 +0000

I teach yoga at a state university where I also work on a masters degree in womens studies. My interest in womens studies is centered around right brain and left brain activities and at what point in human evolution we switched from being predominantly right brained to predominantly left brained in our culture. We take this back to the area of the Mesopotamia where the alphabet was first developed. Prior to the alphabet, all writing was pictorial in nature and ‘reading’ was a right brained activity. When humans moved from pictures to the abstract alphabet, our deciphering moved from one side of our brain to the other side of our brain. Consequently at this time we also went from a Goddess worshiping culture (many deities in nature and animals) to a God worshiping culture (abstract male is nowhere but everywhere). I have found that my bipolar tendencies come from being someone better suited to right brain living while living in a left brained or patriarchal culture, wherein all qualities assigned masculine, dominate. Yoga, for me, has forced me to better activate my right brain. This puts one out of sync with culture and that can cause feelings of alienation but it puts me in sync with myself and my moods are happier. It is interesting that yoga is gaining in popularity in our youths during a time when the US has unprecedented spending on war, a masculine dominating activity. All the universe seeks balance and eventually the US culture will have to embrace those qualities that are feminine (in men and in women and in our environment) in order to see people heal and learn to value our Earth.